Delivery drop platforms, tethers, and stabilization

ABSTRACT

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can deliver a package to a delivery destination. Packages delivered by a UAV may be lowered towards the ground while the UAV continues to fly rather than the UAV landing on the ground and releasing the package. Packages may sway during lowering as a result of wind or movement of the UAV. A package sway may be monitored and mitigated by rapidly paying out a tether, when using a winch mechanism, to dissipate the energy of the sway as downward energy. Further, the UAV may navigate in the direction of the sway or reduce the altitude of the UAV to dissipate the energy of the sway. Open-loop and/or closed loop drop techniques may be utilized to lower a package from the UAV, and the package may be released in the air or on the ground.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to,co-pending, commonly-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/867,908,filed on Sep. 28, 2015, the entire disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The delivery of items typically includes picking and packaging theitems, providing the packaged items to a carrier for delivery, anddelivering the items. Even for small items or small numbers of items,boxes or other packages are transported by relatively large vehiclesover roads, sometimes across long distances.

One alternative to road-based delivery is to deliver packages throughthe air using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). As package delivery by aUAV becomes more common, delivery by a UAV presents many challenges anddesign considerations. For example, it may not always be possible toland a UAV to deliver a package, and it may not always be possible todrop a package to the ground from a particular height above the ground.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Thesame reference numbers in different figures indicate similar oridentical items.

FIG. 1 is a pictorial flow diagram of a process to deliver a package toa destination using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), while compensatingfor sway of the package during delivery, in accordance with embodimentsof the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial flow diagram of a process to lower a packageassembly from a UAV using a winch mechanism while compensating for swayof the package assembly, in accordance with embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 3 is pictorial flow diagram of a process to lower a packageassembly from a UAV towards the ground using a tether wrapped around thepackage assembly to introduce rotations during the descent, inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a pictorial flow diagram of a process to lower a packageassembly from a UAV towards the ground by using a rappel method, inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a pictorial flow diagram of a process to lower a package froma UAV towards the ground by using a rip-strip method, in accordance withembodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a package assembly including a wrappedlowering mechanism and a container, in accordance with embodiments ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of a package assembly including a rappellowering mechanism and a container, in accordance with embodiments ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a package assembly including a rip-striplowering mechanism and a container, in accordance with embodiments ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 9A is a pictorial diagram of an operation to retract a platform ortether after a package has been delivered to a delivery location, inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 9B is a pictorial diagram of an operation to cut or detach a tetherafter a package has been delivered to a delivery location, in accordancewith embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 9C is a pictorial flow diagram of an operation to separate a tetherfrom a UAV after a package has been delivered to a delivery location, inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 9D is a pictorial diagram of an operation to release a package at adelivery location, in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of components of an example UAV includingpackage assembly delivery components, in accordance with embodiments ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of an example process for delivering a packageusing a UAV, in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure provides methods, apparatuses, and systems for deliverydrop platforms, tethers, and stabilization for delivering a packageassembly using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). For example, open-loopand closed-loop (e.g., active and passive, respectively) embodiments areprovided to drop a package assembly from the UAV while the UAV isairborne, rather than requiring the UAV to land before delivering thepackage. When a package or package assembly is being lowered from theUAV using a winch or spool mechanism, for example, a sudden gust of windmay introduce a sway or swing into the descent of the package. This swayor swing may present challenges because it may cause the package to bedelivered outside of a designated or intended area, or may cause thepackage to contact an obstacle, such as a tree or house. By increasingthe rate of lowering the package (e.g., by increasing the rate of payingout a tether or cable using the winch) the sideways potential energy inthe sway or swing may be converted to downward kinetic energy, which maymitigate or prevent any increase in the period or magnitude of thepackage swing.

In various embodiments, the UAV may deliver a package assembly usingclosed-loop embodiments including monitoring a sway of a package andmodulating the descent of the package to reduce or mitigate a sway of apackage. For example, a sway of a package may be monitored or determinedby using an image sensor tracking the position of a package relative toa position on a ground, such as a marker at a delivery location. Inanother example, a tension of a tether may be monitored to determineadditional tension caused by a sway of a package. These and otherembodiments are discussed throughout this disclosure.

In some open-loop embodiments, a sway of a package may not be monitoredbut a descent of a package may be modulated to control the rate ofdescent and reduce or mitigate a sway of a package. In one open-loopembodiment, a tether used to lower a package assembly may be wrappedaround a container in a number of directions (e.g., clockwise andcounter-clockwise, or around the container and double-backed a number oftimes) such that when the package assembly is released from the UAV, thewrappings of the tether around the container cause the package assemblyto rotate as the tether unspools from the container. Because the tetheris rotated around the container in a number of directions, the packagechanges the direction of rotation throughout the descent, therebyslowing the descent. In another embodiment, a tether may be lowered fromthe UAV before a package is released from the UAV. The package isattached to the tether with an attachment mechanism that allows thepackage to slide up and down the tether. The package is released fromthe UAV and the package slides down the tether to the delivery zone. Inthis example, the descent of the package may be slowed by frictionbetween the tether and the attachment mechanism attaching the packageassembly to the tether.

As another example of an open-loop embodiment, the package may belowered using a type of “rip-strip” lowering mechanism that is coupledto the package and the UAV. For example, the rip-strip may be a webbingfolded over on itself and coupled with hook-and-loop fasteners. Afterthe package assembly is released from the UAV, the hook-and-loopfasteners may open, thereby slowing the descent of the package. Insteadof or in addition to the hook-and-loop fasteners, the rip-strip mayinclude magnets, buttons and snaps, or any tearable or breakable thread,string, or plastic sized to detach based on a weight of the packageassembly. In some embodiments, the various lowering methods may be usedin combination. For example, a package may first be lowered using therotation descent technique described above, followed by lowering thepackage using a winch mechanism.

Further, methods, apparatuses, and systems are provided to decouple thepackage assembly from the UAV after the package assembly has beenlowered. In an embodiment where a winch mechanism is used, the winchmechanism may include an attachment mechanism such as a loweringplatform to release the package assembly at a desired height above thedrop zone, after which the winch mechanism may retract the tether andthe lowering platform to the UAV. In other embodiments, the tether,line, or cable may be detached, cut, or sectioned by the UAV, allowingthe tether to fall away from the UAV to the ground. In otherembodiments, the tether may be arranged to passively fall away from theUAV after the package assembly is lowered from the UAV.

The methods, apparatuses, and systems described herein may beimplemented in a number of ways. Example implementations are providedbelow with reference to the following figures.

FIG. 1 is a pictorial flow diagram of a process 100 to deliver a packageto a destination using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), whilecompensating for sway of the package during delivery, in accordance withembodiments of the disclosure.

At 102, a UAV 104 may transport a package or cargo by air travel to adestination. The package may include an item, multiple items, or acontainer that contains one or more items. For example, the package maybe an item wrapped in retail package, a bag of groceries, a bouquet offlowers, and/or other items that may or may not be contained in a bag,box, or other container.

At 106, after arriving at the destination (i.e., a delivery location),the package is lowered. In accordance with embodiments of thedisclosure, a UAV may use open- loop or closed-loop techniques (e.g.,active and/or or passive embodiments) to lower the package from the UAV.For example, a UAV 108 may use a winch mechanism coupled with a deliveryplatform to lower a package to a delivery location. In another example,a drum and brake may be used to lower a package with a tether spooledaround the drum, whereby the tether slips off the drum when fullyextended to release the package. As another example, a UAV 110 may use apackage assembly with a tether wound around the package assembly tocause the package assembly to rotate in various directions as itdescends, thereby slowing the descent of the package. As anotherexample, a UAV 112 may use a tether on which a package assembly may beattached to slide down the tether to the delivery location. As a furtherexample, a UAV 114 may be coupled with a rip-strip lowering mechanismwhich includes fasteners adapted to release under the weight of thepackage and provide a controlled descent of the package to the deliverylocation.

The package may be lowered using open-loop or closed loop embodimentsfor reducing, mitigating, or damping a sway of a package. In someembodiments, a UAV may utilize an entirely passive system (aside fromreleasing the package), while in other embodiments, the UAV 110 mayinclude a winch mechanism or spool mechanism, along with a passivelowering mechanism, to raise or lower the package, or to mitigate swayof a package, as discussed below in operation 116. Details of thevarious techniques for lowering a package are further discussed inconnection with FIGS. 2-9.

At 116, the UAV detects and/or mitigates package sway. For example,sensors in the UAV, such as an image sensor or a sensor detecting theposition of the package relative to the UAV, detect a change in aposition of a package or an angle of the tether lowering a package, andthe UAV performs actions to reduce or mitigate the sway. For example,using an active winch mechanism, the UAV may increase a rate of payingout cable, dropping the package, and converting the sideways potentialenergy of the sway into a downward kinetic energy of the packagedescent. In another example, the UAV may navigate horizontally and/orvertically to absorb or redirect the sideways potential energy of thesway into kinetic energy moving downwards. In another example, acombination of techniques may be used to efficiently mitigate the swayof a package. In some open-loop embodiments, the sway of the package maybe mitigated without detecting the sway of the package; that is to say,the apparatus and/or techniques for lowering the package may mitigate apackage sway in an open-loop manner. Details of the various techniquesfor lowering a package are further discussed in connections with FIGS.2-9.

At 118, the UAV 120 may release a package at the delivery location. Invarious embodiments discussed throughout this disclosure, the packagemay be released from the delivery platform or a tether may be decoupledwith the UAV 120 or the package. In some embodiments, the package may bereleased while the package is above the ground or the package may bereleased after the package has made contact with the ground.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial flow diagram of a process 200 to lower a packageassembly from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) using a winch mechanismwhile compensating for sway or swing of the package assembly, inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

At 202, a UAV 204 may transport a package or cargo 206 by air travel toa destination. The package 206 may include an item, multiple items, or acontainer that contains one or more items, as may be apparent in thecontext of this disclosure. The package 206 may be attached or coupledto the UAV 204 via a platform 208 that may be raised and lowered fromthe UAV 204 via a winch mechanism 210. The platform 208 may includeclamp hooks or any mechanism to secure the package 206 during transportand release the package 206 at the destination. Further, the platform208 may include any active stabilization elements such as fans orthrusters to direct the platform 208 while the platform 208 is beingraised or lowered by the winch mechanism 210. Further the winchmechanism 210 may include one or more winches and tethers to raise andlower the platform 208 at a variable rate of speed. Additional detailsand embodiments of the platform 208 and winch mechanism 210 aredescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 14/558,048 and14/681,343, the entirety of which are herein incorporated by reference.

In some embodiments, the winch mechanism 210 may include a motor toraise and lower the package 206, while in some embodiments the winchmechanism 210 may include a drum mechanism and brake mechanism to lowerthe package 206 using gravity alone. For example, a tether may bewrapped around a drum, and a brake may be modulated by the UAV 204 tocontrol the rate of descent of the package. In some embodiments, thebrake may be modulated to increase the rate of descent when a sway isdetected, as discussed herein. In some embodiments, the brake mechanismmay be controlled wirelessly by the UAV, while in some embodiments, thebrake mechanism may be configured to modulate the friction based on thedistance traveled by the package and/or according to a predeterminedschedule. Further, in some embodiments, the tether may detach from thedrum when the tether is fully unspooled.

In some embodiments, the winch mechanism 210 may be attached to the UAV204, while in some embodiments, the winch mechanism may be attached toor integrated with the platform 208 or the package 206.

At 212, the UAV 204 begins lowering the package 206. This operation mayinclude determining whether the destination is clear of objects, people,or obstructions that may interfere with lowering of the package 206. Forexample, the UAV 204 may use cameras, proximity sensors, and/or otherimage sensors to survey the destination. Further, operation 212 mayinclude navigating the UAV 204 to hover at an optimal altitude orelevation above the ground 214. For example, the UAV 204 may positionitself at an altitude above a minimum altitude and below a maximumaltitude for delivering the package 206. As the package is lowered, thewinch mechanism 210 pays out cable 216, causing the package 206 andplatform 208 to move in a downwards direction 218.

At 220, the UAV 204 may detect package 206 sway. For example, the UAV204 may use sensors to detect a horizontal movement 222 of the package206, caused by a sudden gust of wind, for example, or a change inposition of the UAV 204. In some embodiments, the UAV 204 may use one ormore image sensors or stereoscopic cameras oriented towards the package206 to provide an image or multiple images representing multiple anglesof the package 206 from which to determine when the package 206 sways.For example, the UAV 204 may monitor images from the one or more imagesensors while lowering a package to detect the movement of the package206 and/or the movement of the cable 224. In some embodiments, an imagesensor may monitor one or more markers on the package 206, for example,and one or more markers on the ground at the delivery location. Upondetecting a change in relative or absolute position of one or both ofthe markers, the UAV 204 may determine that the package 206 has begun tosway. Based on the detected sway, the UAV 204 may navigate the UAV 204in the direction of the sway and/or may modulate a rate of descent ofthe package 206. In some embodiments, the UAV 204 may detect a package206 sway before the package 206 sway causes the UAV 204 to move out ofposition.

In addition to or instead of the image sensors discussed above, invarious embodiments, the UAV 206 may use radar or LIDAR (e.g.,laser-based radar) to track the sway of the package 206 relative to theposition of the UAV 204. In various embodiments, the package 206 swaymay be detected by radio frequency identification (RFID) tags applied tothe platform 208 and/or the package 206 and triangulating the positionof the RFID tags with respect to the position of the UAV 204. Forexample, an RFID sensor on the UAV 204 may monitor the RFID tags on theplatform 208 and/or the package 206 and may detect a change in a signalstrength indicating a change in position of the RFID tags relative tothe sensors. By monitoring an increased signal in a first sensor, forexample, and a decreased signal in a second sensor, for example,indicating relative or absolute distances from RFID tags to the RFIDsensors, the UAV 204 may detect a sway of the platform 208 and/or thepackage 206.

In various embodiments, the package sway may be detected by measuring,detecting, or determining a change in angle of the cable 224 withrespect to the UAV 204. For example, an image sensor may monitor theangle of the cable 224 with respect the UAV 204, in conjunction with animage processing algorithm, to detect an angle of the cable 224. Invarious embodiments, the cable 224 may be routed through a sensor (e.g.,such as a tube or straw) that bends or is deflected by the cable 224when the package 206 begins to sway, whereby the amount of deflection ofthe sensor is proportional to a sway of the package 206. Detecting thesway of the package 206 may be provided by sensors included with the UAV204 and/or the winch mechanism 226. For example, in some embodiments, atension sensor may be provided to monitor a tension in the tether 224.In such an example, the UAV 204 may determine a sway of the package 206by determining the tension in the tether 224, while factoring in a windspeed, rate of descent, physical characteristics of the package 206,etc.

As may be understood in the context of this disclosure, operation 220may be omitted in some open-loop embodiments. That is to say, the UAV204 may modulate the rate of descent of a package according to aschedule without feedback determining a sway of a package.

At 228, the UAV 204 increases the rate of paying out the tether tomitigate the package sway. As discussed above, a sudden gust of wind maycause the package 206 to move horizontally 222, thereby adding potentialenergy to the package 206 as a form of height vis-à-vis the UAV 204 andpackage 206 system, which can be viewed as a pendulum system.Accordingly, if the winch mechanism 230 rapidly pays out cable 232 (orincreases the rate of paying out cable 232), the potential energy addedto the package 206 through the horizontal movement 222 may be convertedto kinetic energy by moving the package 206 in a downward direction 234.Further, considering the UAV 204 and package 206 system as a pendulumsystem, the period or magnitude of the sway or swing of the package 206may be reduced by increasing the length of the cable 232, which may slowdown the horizontal component of movement of the package 206, therebymaking it easier to safely deliver the package 206. On the other hand,the winch mechanism 230 may take in or retract the cable 232 if it isdesirable to increase the period of the sway or swing of the package206, for example, to avoid an obstacle or interference from anotherobject, or to compensate for movement of the UAV 204. Further, the UAV204 may navigate in any direction (e.g., upwards, downwards, and/ortoward or away from a direction of the sway) to dissipate an energy ofthe sway of the package 206. As may be understood in the context of thisdisclosure, the package 206 may be released from the platform 208 eitherwhen the package is determined to reach the ground 214, or when thepackage is determined to be a predetermined height above the ground 214.

FIG. 3 is pictorial flow diagram of a process 300 to lower a packageassembly from a UAV towards the ground using a line or tether wrappedaround the package assembly to introduce rotations into the fall, inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

At 302, the UAV 304 releases the package, initiating the rotation anddescent of the package. More specifically, the UAV 304 actuates anattachment mechanism 306, which is coupled with a corresponding packageattachment point 308, to release the package 310 from the UAV 304. As itmay be understood in the context of this disclosure, the UAV 304 may useany attachment mechanism as the attachment mechanism 306, such asclamps, hooks, magnets, and/or electromagnets, to secure and selectivelyrelease the package 310 from the UAV 304. As may be understood in thecontext of this disclosure, process 300 may include an operation to flythe UAV 304 to the destination, similar to operation 202 of FIG. 2.

By way of example, FIG. 3 shows a tether 312 attached to the attachmentmechanism 306, whereby the tether is first wrapped counter-clockwisearound the package 310, is looped around the package attachment point308, is next wrapped clockwise around the package 310, and is finallyattached to the package 310 at a top of the package 310 proximate to thepackage attachment point 308. As may be understood in the context ofthis disclosure, the tether 312 may be wrapped any number of timesaround the package 310, with any number of direction changes,double-backs, or reversals around the perimeter of the package 310. Forexample, the amount of tether wrapped or disposed around the package 310may be a predetermined length corresponding to an intended altitude fromwhich the UAV 304 may release the package 310. In some embodiments, thelength of the tether 312 may be determined such that the package 310contacts the ground 314 before the tether 312 is fully unwound from thepackage 310, while in some embodiments, the tether 312 may be sized suchthat the package 310 does not contact the ground 314 when the line ortether 312 is fully unwound from the package 310. Further, the tether312 may be wrapped around one or more axes of the package 310 (e.g.,around six sides of a rectangular package). Embodiments of the package310 and tether 312 are further discussed below in connection with FIG.6.

Based on the direction of the wrapping of the tether 312 around thepackage 310, when the package 310 is released or detached from the UAV304, the package 310 will begin to rotate as it descends, according tothe rotation 316 illustrated in FIG. 3. It may be understood in thecontext of this disclosure that the tether 312 may be wrapped in anydirection around the package 310 to initiate any direction of rotationof the package 310 during descent.

At 318, the dropping and rotating of the package 310 continues in thefirst direction, illustrated as the arrow 320. Although not to scale andfor illustrative purposes only, FIG. 3 shows that the package 322 hasdescended and rotated with respect to the package 310.

At 324, the configuration of the tether wrapping momentarily stops therotation (and descent) of the package. As illustrated in FIG. 3, theline or tether 326 is wrapped around the package attachment point 328,thereby reversing the direction of the wrapping of the tether 326 from acounter-clockwise wrapping around the package 310 to a clockwisewrapping around the package 310. This change in direction of the tether326 causes the package 330 to slow and stop its rotation, whichmomentarily stops or slows the descent of the package 330. As thischange in rotation of the package may introduce a certain amount of“bouncing” in the descent of the package 330, the UAV 304 may monitorthe descent of the package 330 and periodically or continuously update aposition of the UAV 304 relative to the intended delivery location ofthe package 330. For example, the UAV 304 may maintain an altitudeand/or position of the UAV 304 required for the delivery location.

At 332, the package 334 continues dropping and rotating in a seconddirection, as indicated by the rotation arrow 336. As may be understoodin the context of this disclosure, the tether 312 may be wrapped aroundone or more axes of the package 310. Further, as may be understood, thetether 312 may be wrapped around the package in a predetermined pattern(such as illustrated in FIG. 3), or may be wrapped in a random ornon-uniform manner (e.g., with one wrap around the package 310 in afirst direction, followed by two wraps around the package 310 in asecond direction, followed by a half-wrap around the package in thefirst direction, followed by one wrap in a third direction). In thisembodiment, the descent of the package may be largely controlled by thedirection and number of wrappings of the tether 312 around the package310. For example, operations 318, 324, and 332 may be repeated anynumber of times according to the length of the tether 312 around thepackage 310, the dimensions of the package 310, and/or the altitude ofthe UAV 304 when the package 310 is released from the UAV 304.

At 338, the rotation of the package stops either when the tether isfully unwrapped from the package, or when the package reaches theground. For example, the UAV 304 may be positioned at an altitude basedin part on the length of the tether 312 to guarantee that the package340 does or does not reach the ground 314. As may be understood in thecontext of this disclosure, the tether 312 may be securely attached tothe package 340, may be configured to release from the package 340 at apredetermined point (e.g., by wrapping the tether 312 around itself nearthe end of the tether 312 proximate to the package 310), or may be cut,sectioned, or otherwise decoupled from the UAV 304 at an indicatedelevation or time. Further embodiments describing decoupling the tetherand package are discussed in connection with FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D.

In various embodiments, the UAV 304 may include a winch or spoolmechanism and/or the UAV may navigate (e.g., to change a horizontal orvertical position) to reduce a sway of the package as the packagedescends. For example, while the package 310 descends in process 300,the UAV 304 may detect a sway in the package 310 and may pay outadditional tether 312, or the UAV 304 may rapidly descend or changehorizontal position to reduce or mitigate the package sway.

FIG. 4 is a pictorial flow diagram of a process 400 to lower a packageassembly from a UAV towards the ground using a rappel method, inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

At 402, the UAV 404 may transport a package or cargo 406 by air travelto a destination. The package 406 may include an item, multiple items,or a container that contains one or more items, as may be apparent inthe context of this disclosure. The package 406 may include a packageattachment point 408, whereby elements 406 and 408 may be referred to asa “package assembly.” Further, the package attachment point 408 may beattached or coupled to the UAV 404 via an attachment mechanism 410. Thepackage attachment point 408 may comprise a single attachment point, asillustrated in FIG. 4, or may include clamps, hooks, fasteners, magnets,electromagnets, or the like, as may apparent in the context of thisdisclosure. As may be apparent in FIG. 4, a tether may be stowed duringtransit of the UAV to the destination.

At 412, after the UAV 404 has arrived at the destination, the deliverytether 414 is lowered, dropped, or otherwise released from the UAV 404towards the ground 416. Arrow 418 illustrates that the tether 414 may bedeployed in some embodiments before the package 406 is lowered fordelivery. In other embodiments, the tether 418 may be released as thepackage 406 is released. As will be discussed in more detail inconnection with FIG. 7, the tether 414 may be stowed or stored withinthe package assembly 406 or within the UAV 404 during transit, and maybe released by a releasing mechanism, in accordance with embodiments ofthe disclosure.

At 420, the package is released to descend the tether 414 (e.g., toslide down the tether) towards the ground. For example, the packageattachment point 422 or the package 424 may include a rappel mechanism(as discussed in connection with FIG. 7) coupled with the tether 414 toprovide friction to slow the descent of the package assembly 424. Thedescent of the package assembly is shown as downward arrow 426. In someembodiments, the rate of descent of the package assembly may becontrolled by a brake or by varying the properties of the tether 414(e.g., width, thickness, stiffness, roughness, coefficient of friction,etc.), in combination with a friction mechanism.

At 428, the package descends the tether towards the delivery location onthe ground. A distal end of the tether 430 may allow the package 432 toslide off the tether 430, or may obstruct the downward motion 434 of thepackage 432 at an intended point. As may be apparent in the context ofthis disclosure, the UAV 404 may be positioned at an altitude and/or thelength of the tether 430 may be sized such that the package 432 maycontact the ground 416 while connected to the tether 430, the package432 may slide off the end of the tether 430 while the package is abovethe ground, or the package 432 may stop at a designated point on thetether 430 (e.g., at a knot, stop, chock, block, or any stoppingmechanism).

In various embodiments, the UAV 404 may include a winch or spoolmechanism and/or the UAV 404 may navigate (e.g., to change a horizontalor vertical position) to reduce a sway of the package as the packagedescends. For example, while the package 406 descends in process 400,the UAV 404 may detect a sway in the package 406 and may pay outadditional tether 414, or the UAV 404 may rapidly descend or changehorizontal position to reduce or mitigate the package sway.

FIG. 5 is a pictorial flow diagram of a process 500 to lower a packagefrom a UAV towards the ground by using a rip-strip lowering mechanism,in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

At 502, the UAV 504 may transport a package or cargo 506 by air travelto a destination. The package 506 may include an item, multiple items,or a container that contains one or more items, as may be apparent inthe context of this disclosure. The package 506 may be secured to theUAV 504 by an attachment mechanism 508 operating clamping arms 510 (orany other attachment mechanism discussed in this disclosure) to secureand release the package 506 at the destination. Further, the package 506may be coupled with a rip-strip 512, which may connect the package 506with the attachment mechanism 508. The structure and operation ofembodiments of the rip-strip 512 may become apparent in connection withthe remainder of process 500, and is described in further detail inconnection with FIG. 8.

At 514, the package is released and the rip-strip controls the descentof the package. For example, clamping arms 516 have released the package518, allowing the package 518 to begin its descent. As the descendingpackage 518 creates tension in the rip-strip 512, the rip-strip 512pulls apart at a first location 520, allowing the package 518 to descendin a controlled fashion. In various embodiments, the rip-strip 512 maybe formed of webbing, rope, plastic, or any other suitable material,such as nylon webbing, configured to be double-backed or folded in half,with releasable fasteners, such as hook-and-loop fasteners, buttons andsnaps, magnets, adhesives, or any other suitable fastener, coupling thetwo halves (or any portion) of the webbing together.

At 522, the rip-strip provides a controlled descent for the package. Asillustrated in FIG. 5, fasteners 524A and 524B correspond to the firstlocation 520. Further, fasteners 526A and 526B comprise correspondingfasteners, which are illustrated as having been opened or released asthe package descends. As may be understood in the context of thisdisclosure, fasteners in the rip-strip 512 may be selected based on aweight of the package 506, as well as a desired rate of descent for thepackage 506. For example, fasteners with a low release force limit,rating, or test (e.g., configured to separate under 1 pound of force)may allow the package 506 to descend at a faster rate than fastenerswith a higher release force limit, rating, or test (e.g., configured toseparate under 5 pounds of force). As may be understood in the contextof this disclosure, fasteners of any release force limit, rating, ortest may be used, and the examples given above are not considered to belimiting. Further, fasteners of the rip-strip 512 may be chosen to allowthe package 506 to accelerate or decelerate based on a rating of thefasteners, a number of fasteners, locations of the fasteners about therip-strip 512, and/or a weight of the package 506. The fasteners arepulled apart one after another to control the descent of the package506.

At 528, the rip-strip 530 is fully extended. In some embodiments, thelength of the rip-strip 530 may be selected based on a drop height ofthe UAV 504, such that the rip-strip 530 may be fully extended above theground 532, while in some embodiments, the length of the rip-strip 530may be selected such that the package 534 may contact the ground beforethe rip-strip 530 is fully extended. Further, it may be understood inthe context of this disclosure that the rip-strip 530 may be detachedfrom the package 534 or from the UAV 504 (i.e., the rip-strip 530 mayremain with the package 534 at the delivery destination, or therip-strip 530 may remain with the UAV 504).

In various embodiments, the UAV 504 may include a winch mechanism (e.g.,coupled with the rip-strip 512) and/or the UAV may navigate (e.g., tochange a horizontal or vertical position) to reduce a sway of thepackage as the package descends. For example, while the package 506descends in process 500, the UAV 504 may detect a sway in the package506 and may pay out additional tether coupled to the rip-strip 512, orthe UAV 504 may rapidly descend or change horizontal position to reduceor mitigate the package sway.

As may be understood in the context of this disclosure, the loweringmechanisms described herein may be combined in any manner. For example,in some embodiments, a rip-strip similar to that described in FIG. 5 maybe wrapped around a package in the manner described in connection withFIG. 3. In this manner, the descent of the package may be modulated bythe force required to extend (i.e., separate) the rip-strip, as well asby the changing a rotation of the package as the package descends, asdescribed herein.

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a package assembly 600 including awrapped lowering mechanism and a container, in accordance withembodiments of the disclosure. The container 602 may include the one ormore items to be transported to a delivery location, as discussed inconnection with FIGS. 1-5. Although the container 602 is illustrated asa cube, it may be understood in the context of this disclosure that thecontainer 602 may be any suitable shape or size. Next, the packageassembly 600 includes a band 604 sized to be securely fastened to thecontainer 602, and may couple with the container 602 as indicated by thearrow illustrated in FIG. 5. For example, the band 604 may be tightened,clipped, secured, or coupled with a groove or indentation on thecontainer 602 to prevent movement of the band 604 during operation. Inan embodiment where the container 602 comprises a rectangular prismshape, the band 604 may be disposed about a long axis of the rectangleprism to maximize the rotation imparted on the package assembly 600, ormay be disposed about the short axis of the rectangle prism to minimizethe rotation imparted on the package assembly 600.

In some embodiments, a package attachment point 606 may provide anattachment point for the package assembly 600 to be attached to a UAV,in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure. Further, the packageattachment point 606 may allow a tether 608 to reverse directions as thetether 608 is wrapped around the band, to provide the controlledrotation and descent as described above in connection with FIG. 3. Insome embodiments, the band 604 may include a plurality of attachmentpoints 606, pegs, hooks, or protrusions to allow the tether 608 to bewrapped in a plurality of configurations around the band 604. In someembodiments, the package attachment point 606 may be omitted from thepackage assembly 600 and replaced with a peg, hook, or protrusionconfigured to provide a wrapping point for the tether 608, while thepackage assembly 600 may be secured and released by the UAV usingclamping arms or hooks, as discussed in the disclosure. In an alternateembodiment, the package assembly 600 may be configured as a single,integrated device, that is to say, the band 604 and the attachment point606 may be integrated into the container 602.

In some embodiments, the tether 608 may be attached to the band 604 orthe container 602 at various points to slow or modulate the descent ofthe package assembly 600. For example, the tether 608 may be tapped,glued, or otherwise secured to provide additional modulation of thedescent of the package assembly 600.

The tether 608 may be attached to the band 604 at a band attachmentpoint 610, and may wrap around the band, around the package attachmentpoint 606, and back around the band 604 to terminate at the end point612 of the tether 608. As may be understood in the context of thisdisclosure, the tether 608 may be wrapped around the band any number oftimes and in any manner to provide a desired sequence of rotations tothe package assembly 600 when the package assembly 600 is released fromthe UAV (such as UAV 304 of FIG. 3) at a delivery location. In someembodiments, the tether 608 may be a monofilament line (e.g., similar tofishing line), a nylon or cotton line or string (e.g., similar to a kitestring), a metal cable, a plastic line, ribbon, webbing, or the like. Insome embodiments, the package assembly 600 may be assembled at afulfillment center before the UAV is dispatched to the deliverylocation. In some embodiments, various bands may be pre-wound andselected at the time of delivery based on factors such as an altitude ofthe UAV intended for delivery, a weight of the item for delivery,weather at the time of delivery (e.g., the amount of wind), the methodof separating the UAV and the package assembly 600 (e.g., whether thetether 608 remains with the package assembly 600 or with the UAV 304),or customer preference (e.g., whether the customer wishes to return orrecycle the package assembly 600 after the package is delivered).

The band 604 may include release mechanisms 614 and 616 (e.g., one ormore hinges, clamps, grips, paddles, etc.) that may be adapted to openor release the container 602 and subsequently allow the UAV 304 toretract the tether 608 and the band 604 to the UAV 304. For example, therelease mechanisms 614 and 616 may comprise hinges that may open atpoint 618 to drop or leave the container 602 at a delivery location. Invarious embodiments, the release mechanisms 614 and/or 616 may include asensor that senses a contact with the ground and releases the container602 in response to sensing the ground, or the release mechanism mayinclude a wired or wireless connection to the UAV 304 to release thecontainer 602 at a designated point in time or altitude above theground. Further, the release mechanisms 614 and/ or 616 may be triggeredby tension in the tether 608 at the band attachment point 610, forexample. In such an example, when the tether 608 is fully extended andtension is applied to the band attachment point 610, the releasemechanisms 614 and/or 616 may be triggered to open and drop and/orrelease the container 602 to the delivery location. In some embodiments,the band attachment point 610 may be coupled with a spring- loaded hingeproximate to the release mechanism 614 and/or 616, for example, torelease the container 602 when the tether 608 is fully extended. In someembodiments, the wrapping of the tether 608 around the container 602 orband 604 may provide the mechanism that secures the container 602 in theband 604. For example, point 618 may include snaps or indentationsdesigned to release when not secured by the tether 608. When the tether608 is unwrapped from the band 604, the point 618 may open, releasingthe container 602 from the band 604. In some embodiments, the band 604may comprise a thin molded plastic band configured with a biasedcomponent to deflect outward when not constrained by the tether 608.After the container 602 is released from the band 604, the band 604 maybe retracted, raised, or returned to the UAV 304 for stowing andtransit, in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of a package assembly 700 including a rappellowering mechanism and a container, in accordance with embodiments ofthe disclosure. The container 702 may include one or more items to betransported to a delivery location, as discussed in connection with FIG.4. A band 704 is provided to allow the band 704 and associatedcomponents to be selected based on factors such as the weight of theitem in the container 702, and is attached to the container 702 beforethe UAV 404 departs for a delivery. A package attachment point 706 iscoupled with the band 704, which may be selectively attached andreleased from the UAV 404 for transport and delivery, respectively. Theband 704 may include a rappel mechanism 708 and a tether restraint 710.In some embodiments, the tether restraint 710 may include a piece oftape or a mechanism to release the tether 714 after package assembly 700is released from the UAV 404. For example, when the package assembly 700is released, the tape of the tether restraint 710 may be pulled away torelease the tether 714 to descend ahead of the package assembly 700.Further, in an embodiment where the tether restraint 710 includes anadhesive tape, the adhesive tape may be selected such that one end ofthe tape releases the tether 714, while another end of the tape remainsfixed to the package assembly 700. In some embodiments, the tetherrestraint 710 may be mechanically operated to release the tether beforethe package assembly 700 is released. In some embodiments, the tetherrestraint 710 may be integrated with the UAV 404 and/or operated by theUAV 404 to deploy the tether 714 when the UAV 404 arrives at thedelivery location. A first end of the tether 712 may be attached to theUAV 404 in any manner and routed through the rappel mechanism 708, whilethe remaining portion of the tether 714 may be secured by the tetherrestraint 710. In some embodiments, the package attachment point 706 maybe omitted from the package assembly 700 and instead the packageassembly 700 may be secured and released by the UAV 404 using clampingarms or hooks, as discussed in the disclosure. Further, it may beapparent in the context of this disclosure that the rappel mechanism 708may be coupled with the package assembly 700 in any location, forexample, to minimize any protrusion from the package assembly 700.

In this rappel-type embodiment, when the UAV 404 arrives at the deliverylocation, the tether 714 may be released, lowered, or dropped by thetether restraint 710 and/or by the UAV 404. Following the deployment ofthe tether 714, the package assembly 700 may be released from the UAV404, and the serpentine structure of the rappel mechanism 708 maygenerate friction between the tether 714 and the rappel mechanism 708 toallow the package assembly 700 to descend at a controlled rate. As maybe understood in the context of this disclosure, the tether material(e.g., with a corresponding coefficient of friction, width, thickness,stiffness, roughness, abrasion resistance, etc.) may be selected inconjunction rappel mechanism 708 to provide a desired descent rate basedon a weight of the package assembly 700. For example, the tether 714 maybe thin, smooth, pliable, or otherwise configured to allow the packageassembly 700 to descend rapidly when first released from the UAV 404. Asthe package assembly 700 descends along the tether 714, the tether maythicken, roughen, stiffen, or otherwise be configured to slow thedescent of the package assembly 700. In various embodiments, the packageassembly 700 may include a braking mechanism to slow the descent of thepackage assembly 700, or to increase the rate of descent of the packageassembly 700 when a sway is detected or according to a schedule.

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a package assembly 800 including arip-strip lowering mechanism and a container, in accordance withembodiments of the disclosure. The container 802 may include one or moreitems to be transported to a delivery location, as discussed inconnection with FIG. 5. A band 804 is provided to allow the band 804 andassociated components to be selected based on factors such as the weightof the item in the container 802, and may be attached to the container802 before the UAV 504 departs for a delivery. A rip-strip 806 may becoupled to the band 804 at a first end point and may be attached to theUAV 504 at a rip-strip attachment point 808, for example. In analternate embodiment, the rip-strip 806 may be coupled directed with thecontainer 802 and the band 804 may be omitted. The rip-strip 806 may beformed of any material such as webbing, rope, plastic, metal, or thelike, and may be folded in half as illustrated in FIG. 8, for example,with each half fixed together with fasteners 812A, 812B, 812C, . . . ,812N (referred to collectively as fasteners 812). In variousembodiments, the fasteners may be hook-and-loop fasteners, buttons andsnaps, magnets, adhesive, or the like. In various embodiments, the ripstrip 806 may include a single fastener, such as a continuous strip of ahook-and-loop fastener. As discussed above, the number and strength(e.g., test or rating) of the fasteners may be selected based on aweight of the package assembly 800 and/or a desired rate of descent.Additionally, the length of the rip-strip 806 may be selected based on adrop elevation of the UAV 504, as well as whether the package assembly800 is to contact the ground before the rip-strip 806 is fully extended.In some embodiments, the rip-strip 806 may be folded in variousdimensions (e.g., other than being folded in half). For example, only aportion of the rip-strip 806 may be folded over and secured withfasteners 812, leaving a portion of the rip-strip 806 unencumbered toallow the package assembly 800 to free-fall before the fasteners 812 areengaged to control the descent of the package assembly 800.

The rip-strip 806 may be folded, compacted, or otherwise organized andstowed into a rip-strip retainer 814 during transport. In someembodiments, the rip-strip 806 may be folded and stowed such that whenthe package assembly 800 is released from the UAV 504 at the deliverylocation, the descent of the package may deploy the rip-strip 806 fromthe rip-strip retainer 814.

The band 804 may include release mechanisms 816 and 818 (e.g., one ormore hinges, clamps, grips, paddles, etc.) that may be adapted to openor release the container 802 and allow the UAV 504 to retract therip-strip 806 and the band 804 to the UAV 504. In various embodiments,the release mechanisms 816 and/or 818 may include a sensor that senses acontact with the ground and releases the container 802 in response tosensing the ground, or the release mechanism may include a wired orwireless connection to the UAV 504 to release the container 802 at adesignated point in time or altitude above the ground. Further, therelease mechanisms 816 and/or 818 may be triggered by tension in therip-strip 806. In such an example, when rip-strip 806 is fully extended,the release mechanism 816 may be triggered to open (e.g., at point 820)and drop and/or release the container 802 to the delivery location. Forexample, tension in the rip-strip 806 may trigger spring-loaded hingesto open and drop the container 802. After the container 802 is releasedfrom the band 804, the band 804 and the rip-strip 806 may be retracted,raised, or returned to the UAV 504 for stowing and transit, inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosure. The release mechanismsare also described above in connection with FIG. 6.

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D illustrate various embodiments for managing atether after delivering a package, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-5.

FIG. 9A is a pictorial diagram of an operation 900 to retract a platformor tether after a package has been delivered to a delivery location, inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

At 902, after a package has been delivered, the platform or tether maybe retracted by the UAV. For example, the UAV 904 may deliver a package906 to a delivery location using the platform 908 coupled with a winchmechanism 910 and tether 912. After the package 906 is decoupled withthe platform 908, the winch mechanism 910 may spool in or retract thetether 912 so that the platform 908 may be stowed during transport to afulfillment center, for example. Further, in the embodiments discussedin FIGS. 3-5, the respective tethers 312, 414, and 530 may be retractedafter the respective package are delivered. Arrow 914 illustrates thatthe platform 908 may retract upward to remain with the UAV 904.

In some embodiments where tethers 312, 414, and 530 are coupled with awinch mechanism or spooling mechanism, the tethers 312, 414, and 530 mayinclude a weight or friction mechanism to provide tension on the tethersto allow the tether to be tightly wound around the winch or spool whileretracting the tether. For example, the tethers 312, 414, and 530 mayrun through a friction mechanism that provides friction on the tetheronly when the tether is being retracted, such as synthetic fibers orartificial fish scales oriented to provide friction in one direction.

FIG. 9B is a pictorial diagram of an operation 920 to cut or detach atether after a package has been delivered to a delivery location, inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

At 922, after a package has been delivered, the tether or line may becut, detached, sectioned, or otherwise severed from the UAV 924. In thisexample, a tether attachment mechanism 926 may detach the tether 928 ata point 930 proximate to the UAV 924, such that the tether 928 falls tothe ground with a package 932 delivered at a delivery location. In someembodiments, the tether attachment mechanism 926 may include aspring-loaded or electrically driven mechanism such as one or moremagnets, electromagnets, solenoid latches, etc. to anchor the tether 928with the UAV 924. For example, if an electromagnet is relied upon as thetether attachment mechanism 926, the electromagnet may be powered oractuated to hold the tether 928. When power to the electromagnet is cutoff, the electromagnet may be demagnetized and release the tether 928.If an electro-permanent magnet is relied upon, a permanent magnet mayhold the tether 928. When power is provided to the electro-permanentmagnet, current that flows through the electro-permanent magnet maydemagnetize, oppose, or overcome the magnetization of the permanentmagnet and release the tether 928.

In some embodiments, the tether attachment mechanism 926 may include acutting mechanism such as a blade, saw, and/or heat to cut, sever, orsection the tether 928 from the UAV 924. For example, a heat-basedcutting mechanism may be used to cut the tether 928 when the tether 928is a continuous spool of monofilament line. By contacting themonofilament line to a hot wire in the tether attachment mechanism 926,for example, the tether 928 may be cut and the tether 928 and package932 may remain at the delivery location. Downward arrow 934 illustratesthat the tether 928 falls to the ground after being detached from theUAV 924.

FIG. 9C is a pictorial flow diagram of an operation 940 to separate aline or tether from a UAV after a package has been delivered to adelivery location, in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

At 942, a tether is fully extended, for example, after the package 944is released by the UAV 946 in accordance with the embodiments of thedisclosure. For example a tether 948 is secured to the package 944 atpoint 950, extends up through an attachment mechanism 952, and returnsto the package 944 at point 954. In various embodiments, operation 940illustrates the package assembly described in FIG. 3, at a moment intime when the package 944 has stopped rotating after descending from theUAV 946. While the tether 948 was wrapped around the package 944, thefree end 954 of the tether 948 was constrained by the tether 948 wrappedaround itself, for example.

At 956, the free end 958 of the tether detaches from the package 964.Subsequently, the free end 958 of the tether 960 may run freely throughthe attachment point 962, thereby detaching the package 964 and thetether 960 from the UAV 966. If an altitude of the UAV 966 above theground 968 is greater than the fully extended length of the tether 960,the free end 958 of the tether 960 may detach from the package 964 whilethe package 964 is above the ground, causing the package 964 to descendto the ground 968 with one side of the tether 960 attached to thepackage 964. If the altitude of the UAV 966 above the ground 968 is lessthan the fully extended length of the tether 960, the UAV 966 mayincrease its altitude to fully extend the tether 960 to detach the freeend 958 of the tether 960 from the package 964.

FIG. 9D is a pictorial diagram of an operation to release a package at adelivery location, in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

At 982, a package is released at the delivery location. For example, theUAV 984 may deliver the package 986 using a band 988 such as the bands604, 704, and/or 804 of FIGS. 6, 7, and 8, respectively. For example,the tether 990 may be the tethers 224, 312, 414, 608, or 714 or therip-strips 512 or 806, as described throughout this disclosure. When thepackage 986 is lowered in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure,release mechanisms 992A and 992B may open sections 994A and 994B of theband 988, thereby releasing the package 986 at the delivery location. Insome embodiments, the release mechanisms 992A and 992B may correspond tothose discussed in connection with FIGS. 6 and 8. For example, therelease mechanisms 992A and 992B may be triggered by tension in thetether 990 activating or triggering the release mechanisms 992A and992B, such as a spring-loaded hinge. In other examples, the tether 990wrapped around the band 988 may secure the package 986 in the band 988.That is to say, when the tether 990 is unwrapped from the band 988, thepackage 986 may be released at the delivery location.

The tether 990 may be coupled with a winch or spool mechanism 996 toretract the band 988 after the package 986 is delivered at a deliverylocation. For example, the winch mechanism 996 may include an electricmotor to reel in the tether 990. In some embodiments, the winchmechanism 996 may include a spring-powered spool to raise the band 988after the package 986 is delivered. For example, the spring may be sizedsuch that the band 988 may not be retracted until the package 986 isdelivered (e.g., when the weight coupled to the band 988 is reduced). Insome embodiments, a spring in the winch mechanism 996 may be pre-wound(e.g., stored with energy) without the tether 990 wrapped around thespool to retract the tether 990 when the package 986 is delivered. Inother embodiments, the winch mechanism 996 may be wound with the tether990 and may pay out the tether 990 when the package 986 is released fromthe UAV 984. As the package 986 descends, the tether 990 may unspoolfrom the winch mechanism 996, which in turn winds up a spring in thewinch mechanism 996, thereby storing energy. When the package 986 isreleased from the band 988, the winch mechanism 996 may utilize thestored spring energy to retract the tether 990 and the band 988.

In various embodiments, the methods, apparatus, and systems described inconnection with FIGS. 1-9 may be combined in any manner to provide anoptimal system for delivering a package using a UAV. Further, it may beunderstood in the context of this disclosure that various deliverydropping method and mechanisms and detachment methods and mechanisms maybe used as a fully active, fully passive, or a mixed system.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of components of an exemplary UAV 1002including package delivery components in accordance with embodiments ofthe disclosure.

In various examples, the UAV 1002 may correspond to the UAVs 104, 108,110, 112, 114, 120, 204, 304, 404, 504, 904, 924, 946, 984 and/or 996.The UAV 1002 may include the various controllers and mechanisms toimplement the delivery methods, apparatus, and systems described inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosure. For example, to navigatethe UAV 1002 to a delivery location, the UAV 1002 may be equipped withany number of motors, such as four, six, or eight motors, with eachindividual motor coupled to a propeller or rotor, with power provided tothe motors and rotors via a power system.

UAV 1002 may include one or more processor(s) 1004 operably connected tocomputer-readable media 1006. The UAV 1002 may also include one or moreinterfaces 1026 to enable communication between the UAV 1002 and othernetworked devices, such as other UAVs, or with a networked deliveryplatform (such as the platform 208 in FIG. 2), in order to determine asway or location of a package. The one or more interfaces 1026 mayinclude network interface controllers (NICs), I/O interfaces, or othertypes of transceiver devices to send and receive communications over anetwork. For simplicity, other computers are omitted from theillustrated UAV 1002.

The computer-readable media 1006 may include volatile memory (such asRAM), non-volatile memory, and/or non-removable memory, implemented inany method or technology for storage of information, such ascomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, orother data. Some examples of storage media that may be included in thecomputer-readable media include, but are not limited to, random accessmemory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmableread only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology,compact disk (CD-ROM), digital versatile disks (DVD) or other opticalstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used tostore the desired information and which can be accessed by a computingdevice.

In some embodiments, the computer-readable media 1006 may include anoperating system 1008 and a data store 1010. The data store 1010 may beused to locally store delivery information, for example.

In various examples, the computer-readable media 1006 may include aspool controller 1012. The spool controller 1012 may generate controlsignals to control the spool mechanism and may operate in conjunctionwith the sway controller 1014 to mitigate a sway of a package of the UAV1002 during delivery. For example, the sway controller 1014 maydetermine a package sway and indicate to the spool controller 1012 tovary the rate of paying out or pulling in a tether to reduce the swayand stabilize the platform and/or package of the UAV 1002. That is tosay, the sway controller 1014 may provide active (e.g., closed-loop)control to stabilize the platform and/or package of the UAV 1002.Further, the sway controller 1014 may further navigate the UAV 1002 bymoving horizontally in the direction of the sway and/or by rapidlylosing altitude to mitigate the sway of the platform and/or package ofthe UAV 1002.

In various examples, the computer-readable media 1006 may include anattachment controller 1016. The attachment controller 1016 may monitorand control the attachment and release of a package, tether, and/orrip-strip coupled with the UAV 1002. In some embodiments, the attachmentcontroller 1016 may monitor data from the sensors 1020 to determine theUAV 1002 is in position to release a package. In some embodiments, theattachment controller 1016 may determine that a package has reached theground, and/or may determine whether a tether should be detached fromthe UAV 1002.

In some embodiments, the UAV 1002 may also include a spool mechanism1018 to lower a package and/or platform for delivery, or may to raise apackage and/or platform after delivery, or after picking up a package.Further, as described throughout this disclosure, the spool mechanismmay include a winch and/or drum and brake mechanism to spool tether inand/or out to control and mitigate a sway of the package and/or platformof the UAV 1002. As described herein, the spool mechanism 1018 mayinclude an electric motor or a spring-powered motor, for example.

In some embodiments, the UAV 1002 may include sensors 1020 to provideinput to the UAV 1002 for operation and control. The sensors 1020 mayinclude, but are not limited to flight/delivery sensors such as digitalcameras, spectral cameras (e.g., infrared), LIDAR, RADAR, globalpositioning system (GPS) sensors, chemical sensors, accelerometers,magnetometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, windspeed sensors, altimeters, tether tension sensors, UAV resource sensors(e.g., battery sensors), etc. In some embodiments, data from the sensors1020 may be used to determine whether the UAV 1002 is in position, orwithin a position threshold (e.g., location, elevation, drift, etc.) toinitiate a delivery drop in accordance with embodiments of thedisclosure. In some embodiments, the sensors 1020 may monitor theavailable resources or remaining resources of the UAV 1002, such asbattery levels or power levels.

In some embodiments, the UAV 1002 may include a package attachmentmechanism 1022. For example, the package attachment mechanism mayinclude clamps, hooks, magnets, electromagnets, and/or electro-permanentmagnets to secure the package during transport and release the packagefrom the UAV 1002 and/or from the tether at the delivery location.

In some embodiments, the UAV 1002 may include a tether attachmentmechanism 1024 to release a tether from the UAV 1002. For example, thetether attachment mechanism 1024 may include one or more clamps, hooks,magnets, electromagnets, electro-permanent magnets, solenoid latches,blades, saws, and/or heat-type cutting mechanisms, as would beunderstood in the context of this disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of an example process 1100 for delivering apackage using a UAV, in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

At 1102, the UAV is positioned for delivery. In some embodiments,operation 1102 includes the UAV traveling to a delivery location andpositioning the UAV at a drop altitude associated with a selecteddelivery method. For example, the position of UAV may be determinedbased at least in part on the weather (e.g., steady or gusting wind), asize of the delivery location or drop zone, an item being delivered(e.g., whether the item is relatively robust or fragile), nearbyobstacles (e.g., trees, buildings, people, other UAVs, etc.), noiserestrictions, ground condition (e.g., firmness such as grass orconcrete, or conditions such as wetness), and/or the type of tethertechnique selected for the delivery.

At 1104, the package is dropped and/or lowered from the UAV. Forexample, the package may be dropped or lowered in accordance with theembodiments discussed herein.

At 1106, it is determined whether to release the package in the air.This determination may be made on a number of factors, including, butnot limited to, the type of delivery drop method, a size of the deliverylocation or drop zone, an item being delivered (e.g., whether the itemis relatively robust or fragile), nearby obstacles (e.g., trees,buildings, people, other UAVs, etc.), noise restrictions, groundcondition (e.g., firmness such as grass or concrete, or conditions suchas wetness), and/or other factors. If it is determined not to releasethe package in the air, the package may be released on the ground, andthe operation continues to operation 1108. If the package is to bereleased above the ground, the operation continues to operation 1112.

At 1108, it may be determined whether the package is on the ground. Forexample, the UAV may use sensors such as a camera to determine theposition of the UAV with respect to the ground. In some embodiments, theUAV may include a tension sensor that determines a tension of thetether. When a tension of the tether is below a threshold, the UAV maydetermine that the package is on the ground, rather than the weight ofthe package being supported by the tether. In some embodiments, the UAVmay determine the altitude of the UAV and may infer the package is onthe ground based on a length of the tether. Further, operation 1108 mayinclude determining that the package has been delivered with a deliveryzone or within a threshold distance to an intended delivery location. Insome embodiments, one or more techniques may be used in conjunction todetermine that a package is on the ground.

At 1110, the package and the UAV are decoupled. For example, if adelivery platform is used to lower a package, the delivery platform mayrelease the package for delivery. If a rappel-type lowering mechanism isused, the package may slide off the tether as the UAV ascends. If arip-strip lowering mechanism is used, the rip-strip may be decoupledfrom the UAV, or the package may be decoupled from the rip-strip.

At 1112, when it is determined to release the package in the air atoperation 1106, the descent of the package is monitored to determinewhether the package is at a safe distance above the ground. A number offactors may determine whether a height of the package is “safe,”including but not limited to, a size of the delivery location or dropzone, an item being delivered (e.g., whether the item is relativelyrobust or fragile), nearby obstacles (e.g., trees, buildings, people,other UAVs, etc.), ground condition (e.g., firmness such as grass orconcrete, or conditions such as wetness), and/or an expected free fallbased on the wind conditions and the inertia of the package, forexample.

At 1114, the package is dropped to the ground. The package may bereleased according to any number of embodiments discussed in thisdisclosure. For example, the package may be actively decoupled from thedelivery platform, such as the delivery platform 208 of FIG. 2, a tethermay be cut, a package may slide off the end of a tether, or a packagemay unwind and release the package from the tether, as describedthroughout this disclosure.

At 1116, it is determined whether to retrieve a tether. For example, ifthe tether is not to be retrieved, the tether may be cut at operation1118. In various embodiments, based on the operation of the deliverymethod, the tether may actively or passively decouple from the UAVduring package delivery, and the UAV only needs to fly away in operation1118. If the tether is to be retrieved, a winch mechanism or spoolingmechanism may be used to retract the tether to the UAV. Further, inoperation 1120, a tension on the tether may be maintained to facilitatespooling via a weight of the delivery platform, for example, a ballastor weight, or a friction mechanism providing friction to the tether, inaccordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

At 1122, the delivery is verified. In some embodiments, the UAV mayverify the delivery with a positional sensor attached to the package orsituated at the delivery location, or the UAV may use an image sensor toverify the delivery.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather,the specific features and acts are disclosed as illustrative forms ofimplementing the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising: anairframe; a power source coupled to the airframe to selectively providepower to propulsion units of the UAV to transport an item to a deliverydestination; a package assembly to secure the item; an attachmentmechanism to attach the package assembly to the UAV; a tether coupled tothe package assembly; a tension sensor coupled to the tether to generatetension data based at least in part on a tension of the tether; an imagesensor to generate image data capturing at least a portion of thepackage assembly and a reference point at the delivery destination; alowering mechanism coupled to the airframe and coupled to the tether toselectively lower the package assembly via the tether; a sway controllercoupled to the airframe to determine a sway of the package assemblybased at least in part on the tension data and relative motion betweenthe package assembly and the reference point represented in the imagedata, wherein the sway controller is configured to: determine that anamount of the sway is increasing, wherein the amount of the sway isbased at least in part on a distance between a location of the packageassembly and an equilibrium position of the package assembly; andprovide, based at least in part on the amount of the sway increasing,the tension data, and the image data, a signal to the lowering mechanismto adjust a rate of lowering the package assembly to reduce the sway ofthe package assembly; and a package attachment controller coupled to theairframe to selectively operate the attachment mechanism to release thepackage assembly at least partially above the delivery destination. 2.The UAV of claim 1, further comprising: a wind speed sensor coupled tothe UAV to generate third data, wherein the amount of the sway isfurther based at least in part on the third data.
 3. The UAV of claim 1,wherein the tension sensor generates the tension data based at least inpart on the tension in the tether and a rate of lowering the packageassembly.
 4. The UAV of claim 1, wherein the tension sensor generatesthe tension data based at least in part on the tension in the tether andat least one physical characteristic of the package assembly.
 5. Amethod comprising: lowering a package assembly from an unmanned aerialvehicle (UAV) at a delivery location using a lowering mechanism of theUAV to lower the package assembly coupled to a tether; determiningtension data representing tension in the tether with a sensor of theUAV; receiving image data representing at least a portion of the packageassembly and a reference point at the delivery location; determining asway of the package assembly based at least in part on the tension inthe tether represented by the tension data and relative motion betweenthe package assembly and the reference point represented in the imagedata; determining that an amount of the sway is increasing, wherein theamount of the sway is based at least in part on a distance between alocation of the package assembly and an equilibrium position of thepackage assembly; and providing, based at least in part on the amount ofthe sway increasing, the tension data, and the image data, a signal tothe lowering mechanism to adjust a rate of lowering the package assemblyto reduce the sway of the package assembly.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein lowering the package assembly from the UAV comprises loweringthe package assembly to a surface at the delivery location using thelowering mechanism.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein determining thesway of the package assembly is further based at least in part on therate of lowering the package assembly.
 8. The method of claim 5, whereindetermining the sway of the package assembly is further based at leastin part on physical characteristics of the package assembly.
 9. Themethod of claim 5, further comprising: releasing the package assembly inresponse to the sway being less than a threshold sway.
 10. The method ofclaim 5, further comprising: releasing the package assembly from the UAVat or above the delivery location.
 11. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising: prior to releasing the package assembly, determining, basedat least in part on the tension being below a threshold, that thepackage assembly is on a ground surface.
 12. The method of claim 5,wherein the signal is a first signal and the rate is a first rate, andfurther comprising: determining, after providing the first signal,continued sway of the package assembly based at least in part on thetension in the tether and the image data; and providing a second signalto the lowering mechanism to adjust a second rate of lowering thepackage assembly to further reduce the sway of the package assembly. 13.The method of claim 5, wherein the sensor is a first sensor, and furthercomprising: monitoring a wind speed with a second sensor of the UAV, andwherein determining the sway of the package assembly is further based atleast in part on the wind speed.
 14. The method of claim 5, wherein thesensor is a first sensor, further comprising: monitoring, via a secondsensor, a change in an angle of the tether with respect to the UAV, andwherein determining the sway of the package assembly is further based atleast in part on the change in the angle of the tether.
 15. An unmannedaerial vehicle (UAV) comprising: an airframe; a plurality of propulsionunits coupled to the airframe; an attachment mechanism to attach apackage assembly to the UAV; a lowering mechanism coupled to theairframe to lower the package assembly using a tether; one or moresensors coupled to the airframe; one or more processors coupled to theairframe; and memory coupled to the one or more processors, the memoryincluding one or more computer-executable instructions that areexecutable by the one or more processors to perform operationscomprising: causing the propulsion units to position the UAV at apredetermined height above a delivery location; lowering the packageassembly from the UAV at the delivery location using the loweringmechanism of the UAV to dispense the tether; determining tension datarepresenting a tension in the tether coupled to the package assemblyusing the one or more sensors; receiving, from the one or more sensors,image data representing at least a portion of the package assembly and areference point at the delivery location; determining a sway of thepackage assembly based at least in part on the tension in the tetherrepresented by the tension data and relative motion between the packageassembly and the reference point represented in the image data;determining that an amount of the sway is increasing, wherein the amountof the sway is based at least in part on a distance between a locationof the package assembly and an equilibrium position of the packageassembly; and providing, based at least in part on the amount of thesway increasing, the tension data, and the image data, a signal to thelowering mechanism to adjust a rate of lowering the package assembly toreduce the sway of the package assembly.
 16. The UAV of claim 15,wherein the operations performed by the one or more processors furthercomprise: releasing the package assembly from the UAV at or above thedelivery location.
 17. The UAV of claim 16, wherein the operationsperformed by the one or more processors further comprise: prior toreleasing the package assembly, determining, based at least in part onthe tension being below a threshold, that the package assembly is on aground surface.
 18. The UAV of claim 15, wherein the signal is a firstsignal and the rate is a first rate, and the operations performed by theone or more processors further comprise: determining, after providingthe first signal, continued sway of the package assembly based at leastin part on the tension in the tether; and providing a second signal tothe lowering mechanism to adjust a second rate of lowering the packageassembly to further reduce the sway of the package assembly.
 19. The UAVof claim 15, wherein the operations performed by the one or moreprocessors further comprise: monitoring, using at least one of the oneor more sensors, a wind speed with the one or more sensors of the UAV,and wherein determining the sway of the package assembly is furtherbased at least in part on the wind speed.
 20. The UAV of claim 15,wherein the operations performed by the one or more processors furthercomprise: monitoring, using at least one of the one or more sensors, achange in angle of the tether with respect to the UAV, and whereindetermining the sway of the package assembly is further based at leastin part on the change in the angle of the tether.